ABE 47 Electrical System Design for Biosystems 11/27/2013

Structures

AC AC
Power in Resistive Circuit True, Reactive & Apparent Power
Power dissipated by
rms
a load is referred to
as true power.

True power is
symbolized by the

the waveform for power is always positive, never negative letter P and is
for this resistive circuit measured in the

power is always being dissipated by the resistive load, and unit of Watts (W).
never returned to the source as it is with reactive loads

If the source were a mechanical generator, it would take
240 watts worth of mechanical energy (about 1/3
horsepower) to turn the shaft.

AC AC
Power in Reactive Circuit True, Reactive & Apparent Power
Power merely
rms
absorbed and
returned in load due
to its reactive
properties is

power is being alternately absorbed from and returned to referred to as
the source reactive power.

If the source were a mechanical generator, it would take
(practically) no net mechanical energy to turn the shaft,
because no power would be used by the load Reactive power is symbolized by the letter Q and is

The generator shaft would be easy to spin, and the measured in the unit of Volt-Amps-Reactive (VAR).
inductor would not become warm as a resistor would.

AC AC
Power in Resistive &Reactive Circuit True, Reactive & Apparent Power
Total power in an AC
circuit, both
rms
dissipated and
absorbed/returned
is referred to as
apparent power.

there will be more power dissipated by the load(s) than
returned, but some power will definitely be dissipated and
some will merely be absorbed and returned

If the source were a mechanical generator, the amount of
mechanical energy needed to turn the shaft would be the Apparent power is symbolized by the letter S and is measured
amount of power averaged between the positive and in the unit of Volt-Amps (VA).
negative power cycles.

Asst. Prof. Mark Keylord S. Onal 1

ABE 47 Electrical System Design for Biosystems 11/27/2013
Structures

AC AC
True, Reactive & Apparent Power True, Reactive & Apparent Power
These three types of
power are
trigonometrically
related to one rms

another.

The opposite angle

is equal to the
circuit’s impedance
(Z) phase angle.

AC AC
True, Reactive & Apparent Power True, Reactive & Apparent Power

rms

AC AC
True, Reactive & Apparent Power Power Factor

rms

For the purely resistive circuit, the power factor is 1

(perfect), because the reactive power equals zero.

Here, the power triangle would look like a horizontal line,

because the opposite(reactive power) side would have
zero length.

Asst. Prof. Mark Keylord S. Onal 2

ABE 47 Electrical System Design for Biosystems
Structures
AC
Power Factor
For the purely inductive circuit, the power factor is zero,
because true power equals zero.
Here, the power triangle would look like a vertical line,
because the adjacent (true power) side would have zero
length.
AC
Power Factor
For a purely capacitive circuit, the true power must be
equal to zero, making any power in the circuit purely
reactive.
The power triangle for a purely capacitive circuit would
again be a vertical line (pointing down instead of up as it
was for the purely inductive circuit).
AC
Power Factor
If a circuit is predominantly inductive, we say that its power
factor is lagging (because the current wave for the circuit
lags behind the applied voltage wave)
Conversely, if a circuit is predominantly capacitive, we say
that its power factor is leading.
Asst. Prof. Mark Keylord S. Onal
11/27/2013
AC
Power Factor
Power factor can be an important aspect to consider in an AC
circuit, because any power factor less than 1 means that the
circuit’s wiring has to carry more current than what would
be necessary with zero reactance in the circuit to deliver the
same amount of (true) power to the resistive load.
The poor power factor makes for an inefficient power delivery
system.
AC
Power Factor Correction
Poor power factor can be corrected, paradoxically, by adding
another load to the circuit drawing an equal and opposite
amount of reactive power, to cancel out the effects of the
load’s inductive reactance.
Inductive reactance can only be canceled by capacitive
reactance, so we have to add a capacitor in parallel to our
example circuit as the additional load. The effect of these
two opposing reactances in parallel is to bring the circuit’s
total impedance equal to its total resistance (to make the
impedance phase angle equal, or at least closer, to zero).
AC
Power Factor Correction
rms
3
ABE 47 Electrical System Design for Biosystems 11/27/2013
Structures

AC AC
Power Factor Correction Practical Power Factor Correction
To correct power factor to 1.0,
If you have a wattmeter for measuring true power, whose
reading you can compare against a calculation of apparent
power (from multiplying total voltage and total current
measurements), you can determine reactive power and
power factor.

AC AC
Power Factor Correction Practical Power Factor Correction

rms

AC AC
Practical Power Factor Correction Practical Power Factor Correction

When the need arises to correct for poor power factor in an

AC power system, you probably won’t have the luxury of
knowing the load’s exact inductance in henrys to use for
your calculations.

You may be fortunate enough to have an instrument called a

power factor meter to tell you what the power factor is, and
the apparent power (which can be figured by taking a
voltmeter reading in volts and multiplying by an ammeter
reading in amps).

Asst. Prof. Mark Keylord S. Onal 4

ABE 47 Electrical System Design for Biosystems 11/27/2013
Structures

AC AC
Practical Power Factor Correction Power Factor Correction
Addition of capacitors for power factor improvement must
be based on an economic analysis of the particular
situation. The rate of return upon capacitor investment will
depend both on the structure of the power factor clause
and the present power factor.

Power factor improvements up to 90% to 95% are generally

economically practical.

AC AC
Practical Power Factor Correction Power Factor Correction
Assume your power company has a power factor charge
that increases the rate per kWh for any power factor
below 0.95 as follows:

If you are using 7000 kWh per month at a power factor of

0.80 and a base rate of$0.10/kWh, how much could you
save on energy cost by correcting your power factor
to 0.95?

AC AC
Power Factor Correction Power Factor Correction
The operation of electrical systems at low power factors
increases transmission costs and reduces capacity. The
higher current drawn by low power factor loads cause
greater line losses during transmission which then requires
that larger conductors be used.

To encourage alleviation of such adverse conditions, utility

companies may institute power factor clauses in their rate
structure. These clauses may increase the electrical rates
for low power factors.

Asst. Prof. Mark Keylord S. Onal 5